Politics of Drabantia
Drabantia is a unitary parliamentary constitutional republic. The President, who has limited powers, is the formal head of state, the Prime Minister is the head of government. Government of Drabantia, reporting to the lower chamber of the Parliament, holds executive power. Drabantia has a bicameral legislature consisting of the Chamber of Deputies with 160 members, and the Senate with 81 members. The political system is multi-party. Drabantia was rated a "full democracy" in 2017.[1]
The country has been a republic since 1915. In the 1940s, following economical turmoil, the political situation shifted in favor of far-left parties. The late 1990s saw the rise of centrism and economic liberalism, represented by the Liberal Democratic Party and Green Party, the number one and three (respectively) largest political parties as of 2018.
Contents
Constitution
Drabantia's constitution characterizes it as a unitary republic. It is the supreme law of the country. The Constitution defines territorial integrity, the governmental system as well as human and civic rights. The Constitutional Court oversees issues associated with the constitution. The current constitution is in power since 1915 with multiple amendments made since.
Executive branch
While the President is formally the head of the state, their power is limited. The Prime Minister is the head of the government.
President
The President is elected indirectly. They serve 5-year terms and can only be reelected once in their lifetime. The President (among other things) appoints and recalls the Prime Minister and heads of diplomatic missions, signs enacted laws, ratifies international treaties and represents the State abroad. The President resides in the Presidential Palace in Krále Hora. Radovan Bašta currently serves as President. He was elected in 2015.
Prime Minister
The Chairman of the Government of Drabantia, commonly referred to as the Prime Minister, is the head of the government. They are appointed by the President. The Prime Minister creates and organizes the Government and appoints other Ministers. The Government must be given approval by the majority of the members of the Chamber of Deputies (81.) The Prime Minister may also lose the approval, in which case they are recalled and a new Prime Minister is appointed. Jan Michalek (Liberal Democratic Party) is the Prime Minister since July 27th, 2018.
Government
The Government of Drabantia, also called the cabinet, consists of the Prime Minister and 14 Ministers. The government sets the agenda for most foreign and domestic policies. It has to receive approval from the Chamber of Deputies before entering into power. Similarly, the Chamber of Deputies can vote to dissolve it. The current cabinet was sworn in on July 27th, 2018.
| Office | Incumbent | Political party | Office location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ministry of Agriculture | Cyril Čestný | Prog. Christ. | map |
| Ministry of Culture | Lenka Zimová | Green | map |
| Ministry of Defense | Jakub Stolín | Prog. Christ. | |
| Ministry of the Environment | Drahomíra Morávková | Green | map |
| Ministry of Finance | Václav Šípek | Lib. Dem. | map |
| Ministry of Foreign Affairs | František Navrátil | Lib. Dem. | map |
| Ministry of Health | Jiří Kajnar | Lib. Dem. | |
| Ministry of Industry and Trade | Jiří Mareš | Lib. Dem. | map |
| Ministry of the Interior | Jan Vlach | Green | map |
| Ministry of Justice | Anna Kociánová | Prog. Christ. | map |
| Ministry of Local Development | Magdalena Smetanová | Lib. Dem. | map |
| Ministry of Science, Education and Sport | Erik Šulc | Green | map |
| Ministry of Social Affairs | Jaroslav Hradil | Prog. Christ. | map |
| Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure | Petr Dlouhý | Green | map |
Legislative branch
The legislative body of Drabantia is a two-chamber parliament.
The Chamber of Deputies (Poslanecká sněmovna) is the lower chamber. It has 160 members, which are elected for a four-year term in a proportional representation election with a 5% threshold. The upper chamber is the Senate, which has 81 members elected for a six-year term by two-round runoff voting. The Parliament holds and passes bills, ratifies international treaties, decides on military missions and has the right to modify the Constitution. The Chamber of Deputies resides in Odrava, the Senate in Krále Hora.
Political parties and elections
Drabantia has a diverse spectrum of political parties. The left-wing is represented by the National Socialist Party of Drabantia (member of the International Workers Alliance) and the Social Democratic Party of Drabantia (member of the Labour and Social Democrat International.) The Republican Party of the Countryside (member of the Alliance for Liberty), Drabantian National Democratic Party and the Entrepreneur Party are as of 2018 the strongest political parties on the right. In addition, Drabantia has a traditionally broad variety of centrist parties, such as the Liberal Democratic Party (member of the International Liberal and Democrat Alliance), which won the 2018 Drabantia Chamber of Deputies election, the Progressive Christian Party of Drabantia or the Green Party.
In regional and municipal elections, local parties often win the majority of votes.[2]
Parliamentary elections take place every four years. 160 members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected by proportional representation with a 5% threshold. 27 senators are elected every 2 years for a 6-year term in a two-round runoff voting. Municipal and regional elections are held parallel to the Senate election.
The president is elected indirectly by the parliament every five years.
The legal voting age is 18 years.
| Party | Ideology | Votes | % | Seats | Change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democratic Party | Centrism, Economical liberalism | 706,728 | 15.81 | 31 | -4 | ||
| Republican Party of the Countryside | Conservatism | 671,861 | 15.03 | 30 | +4 | ||
| Green Party | Environmentalism, Social liberalism | 629,394 | 14.08 | 28 | -4 | ||
| Progressive Christian Party of Drabantia | Christian democracy, Social liberalism | 547,144 | 12.24 | 24 | +10 | ||
| Social Democratic Party of Drabantia | Social democracy | 523,005 | 11.70 | 23 | +8 | ||
| Entrepreneur Party | Libertarianism | 270,443 | 6.05 | 12 | +12 | ||
| National Socialist Party of Drabantia | Socialist nationalism | 260,162 | 5.82 | 12 | -4 | ||
| Christian Conservative Party | Clericalism, Traditionalism | 216,801 | 4.85 | 0 | -11 | ||
| Drabantian National Democratic Party | Conservatism, Nationalism, Traditionalism | 210,543 | 4.71 | 0 | -11 | ||
| Monarchists | Monarchism, Traditionalism, Populism | 176,123 | 3.94 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Libertarian Party | Libertarianism, Pirate politics | 68,840 | 1.53 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Others | 189,086 | 4.24 | 0 | — | |||
| Total (turnout 67.22%) | 4,470,130 | 100.00 | 160 | – | |||
| Source: Drabantian Statistics Bureau | |||||||
| Party | Seats | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 2010 | 2012 | 2014 | 2016 | 2018 | Total | |||
| Republican Party of the Countryside | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 15 | ||
| Liberal Democratic Party | 3 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 13 | ||
| Green Party | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 13 | ||
| Social Democratic Party of Drabantia | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 9 | ||
| Progressive Christian Party of Drabantia | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 | ||
| Christian Conservative Party | 2 | — | 2 | 3 | 1 | — | 6 | ||
| National Socialist Party of Drabantia | 1 | — | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| National Democratic Party of Drabantia | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | — | 1 | 4 | ||
| Culture Movement | — | — | — | — | 3 | — | 3 | ||
| Our Vaberec | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 1 | ||
| Monarchists | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | 1 | ||
| Drabantian Freeholder Party | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | — | 0 | ||
| Boravians | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | 0 | ||
| Independent | 2 | 1 | — | — | 3 | 3 | 6 | ||
| Total | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 81 | ||
| Source: [1] Constituencies in which the election was held:
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Judicial branch
The Supreme Court is Drabantia's highest court of appeals in a four-tier system. The Constitutional Court has 15 members appointed by the President with approval of the Senate, and rules on constitutional issues. The Supreme Administrative Court rules on procedural, political and administrative issues. Drabantian courts are defined as independent by the Constitution.[3] Most higher courts are seated in Lipice, as a counterbalance to most of the legislative institutions being seated in Odrava.[4]
Administrative divisions
Drabantia is divided into 10 regions (kraje) including Odrava, which has the special formal status of a capital city. Regions are then divided into 69 districts (okresy) which are also local seats of various institutions of state administration. The country is also divided into 153 townships (obce s rozšířenou působností, abbrev. osrp), which run parallel to districts. Townships are grouped into 81 constituencies, which are used for parliamentary elections. [5]
Involvement in international organizations
Drabantia is a founding member of the Egalian Union and is also a member of the Assembly of Nations and all associated organizations, Academic Support International, Ulethan Alliance for Culture and various sports associations.
